Sometimes someone else knows how to say it!

SO... summertime is wedding season. The dreaded single person's activity to go and be supportive of their friends yet again. Don't get me wrong... we're happy for them but again, it is a reminder that it isn't for you. Today in the hallway of work I chatted with another coworker who was a bridesmaid yet again! in her life and is quite done with it.

This blog was forwarded to me by a friend. I think that this person has some good ideas... I'm going to muse on it and take action! Family... keep your eyes peeled for A Good Man.

It's been a while!

I have been awol for a while. There's a reason... fundraising season, finishing off the basement project and the lame-ness that is my life. The sad part is that it has made me very busy! So I'm going to do Seven Takes that is inspired by Conversion Diary!

My seven takes:

1. What is it about Stampede and all the surrounding events that brings out the best and the worst in a city? This week I have experienced: bad alcohol shirts (some not even being shirts), free pancake breakfasts for all, sardine style packed trains and people that have raised money for charity... What a crazy week!
2. 16 year olds eat a ton of food! Now it isn't boys but girls that are active can pack it away... not fair especially when they complain that Canadian stores don't have small enough women's clothes for them. I think that it shows God's grace that I suggested the girls' clothing section without guffawing.
3. Having many people around you on vacation is good for thinking. I have had way better success with long term plan for the upcoming year without interruptions. The Office is funny funny funny!
4. How do you break to the one temporary international student that is obsessed with the 80s that really and truly, the 80s had cool things but the fashion? Hmmm... it's meant to stay in the 80s.
5. IKEA easy assemble furniture isn't meant to be put together around young children. All the easiness evaporates for the last two steps when it JUST doesn't work. This also shouldn't be done when you are in a rush to leave the house! Your thumb may accidentally be jammed by yourself under a table leg-banging it hard doesn't work well when it includes some of your digits.
6. I love my slow cooker! I love it. I love it. It helps me survive those seasons when I have international students. How do people live without one?
7. Summertime is fabulous. Sunshine is great. Being outside rocks. Enjoying others and hanging out with old friends at a pool-there isn't anything like it! I don't know that I want to live in the Great White North all the time.

Hope you're doing well! I got to leave work early today so I'm a happy camper!

Tightwad I am not?

So my cousin prides herself on being cheap. My mother and her (God bless them both) are like soul sisters divided at birth. We all (that would be the one side of the family) say it and agree with one another about these things! 

But before I get too high and mighty, there are significant signs that I am probably from the same gene pool even if sometimes they seem a bit weaker:

• At a family event last weekend complete with cousins and cutie patootie kids, my cousin was telling her sister-in-law about a great kids' consignment store and I offered my services to go to this store so close to my house to keep my eyes peeled for them on the clearance rack. I do not have children or anything resembling them in my house but I willingly offer to shop for other children (who happen to be the cutest in the whole wide world) so their mamas can save money.
• I was going to purchase a card for a coworker that is leaving because of cutbacks and I must admit that the final decision between two cards that would work was the dollar's difference. What are those card companies doing? Lining the envelopes with gold?
• I am leaving my house fifteen minutes earlier on Friday and Saturday so I can carpool with coworkers... Did I mention that we are talking about pre-6:30ish hours? Those 15 minutes count! And yet, think of the gas (and environmental footprint) I'll save one coworker and the other one will save me... as well as the agency for a lack of claimed mileage.
• I am the biggest skype fan ever... I tell all sorts of people about it. Free computer-to-computer calling (with ability to see your friends that have a webcam) and cheap, cheap, cheap computer to long distance phone calling. I was a fan WAY before Oprah (not that I watch her... but I read it on the internet and everything on the internet is true, right?)
• The most insulting of all... I was making mini chocolate chip cheesecakes tonight and they got dumped on the cupboard. Obviously not good enough to take to a party but good enough to scrap up and put back in their wrappers for a frozen albeit not so beautiful snack... yes, all you swine flu phobics, the counter was spotless and very much wiped down before I pulled these delights out of the oven. All the while saying out loud in a definite teacher voice, "no, no, no."

So... I guess that I need to recession proof myself more and more but I might be already on the right track.

Viva la difference!

So... a month has flown by. I went to Mexico to visit an old student and had a blast. I learnt about some differences between the two countries:

• In Canada, animals are kept behind fences and away from people in their proper places. In Mexico, you'll find animals everywhere. At a 'drive-up' bar on the beach, in the middle of a boulevard eating grass in traffic in a city of one million people, picking up garbage every morning... animals are used to earning their keep.
• In Canada, food is sold in proper places. In Mexico, one street will get turned into a market and all the sudden there is freshly cooked chicken, a roasting cow's head (seriously!) and people even hawking cds for way cheap.
• In Canada, when people say the times that they show up-these are proper times that are strictly observed. In Mexico, you tell your friends that the party starts 1-2 hours before you hope that they get there, meals are eaten in shifts as people show up and time is treated as way more relative.

We have the proper things all figured out ... but here's the confession: I want to go back! It is 30C there and it is snowing here. Warmth covers over a lot!

Spring is taunting me!

This has been a long week. Long work days that made it so that by the time I rushed home and made dinner, chatted with the student and got the next day's lunch made, it was time to head to bed and start all over again. The good news is that in one meeting, I was feeling antsy just sitting there without any knitting or something to do. Apparently I started fidgeting with a piece of paper too much and my new supervisor commented that I needed some knitting! (they have been sucked into my borg... they realize that knitting is not a bad thing!)

However, today was just an 8 hour day. It's amazing what you can do after work with a couple hours before dinner... 8 errands that have been hanging over my head and a walk. SOOOOOO good-no, I haven't been broken of all type A tendencies yet. 

The best part? Taking in my winter coat for dry cleaning hoping that I don't have to use it again and letting it be ready for next fall... crossing the fingers! Please spring, please stay. You are wanted... really wanted! 

 

Death of an era!

Pull out the tissues, hankies or whatever will be needed. There has been a death of an era. This is truly one of the saddest things ever:

Dollarama has gone away from their AMAZING philosophy of everything costing a loonie. They now charge $1, $1.25, $1.50 and $2 for some items. Slay me now. Upon some deep research (chatting to the friendly clerk) it appears that there are some new items that are significantly nicer than the loonie items. With some prodding (well, a friendly smile and a question) she admitted that there have been items that have gone up in price.

Wahhhh... this store doesn't have the same deep loyalty that it has always garnered. I am now on the search for a store that has my undying loyalty! Dollarama, consider yourself warned!

March Madness!

Sorry I've been silent to all five of my family members! February kicked the stuffing out of me...

• car accident
• lack of energy
• paperwork
• lots of work at work 
• and to top it off... having one of the neighbor's dog leave me little treats on my lawn... it seemed like it was symbolic of February! Hah hah!

I've decided that I am a fan of March. Here's why:

• Many wardrobe options-you can choose to wear spring and winter within a 24 hour period and both will be needed. Be forewarned that you should NOT shave your head as one of my male coworkers did in celebration of spring... it will go down to-20 tomorrow! Oh joys
• Longer sunlight... it truly makes a difference in what you're able to do. The only downside is that now you have to wait until after 6:45 to have friends over so they don't see the dust.
• Inspiration to clean out closets, storage areas, freezers and everything just in case your life all the sudden turns cool and you are able to do something fun... then you'll have organized space at home. Call me Type A-a tidy house makes a girl happy!
  

March Madness-most would tell you that it is about the basketball but for this Canadian chiquita-it gives me hope that I'll be able to start my car without scraping it, not worry about the ice on the roads as I cross the street and come home while it is still sunshiney out there!

I'm the oldest!

To my brother...

You have always been my baby brother. No matter how much taller than me you get (as in one complete foot) or that you will hit 30 too no it won't avoid you totally, you will always be younger than me... yes, deal with it!

We just hung out for a whole week (around my crazy work week) and basement building and here is what I want to say to you...

• Taking pictures of my butt when I'm leaning over something... seriously! Do brothers always do these things?
• Patting my head when you hug me makes me wonder if we've left junior high
• Asking me to find you a Nail Bender is not cool... b/c it takes a while before I realize that you're talking about a hammer-hah, hah, KC takes a while to get that one
• But the biggest thing is that I want to say thank you! You worked your butt off on developing my basement-framing, drywalling, lifting heavy things, priming the walls, doing my ceiling at 6:30 in the morning... You are such a trooper and helping me with my basement... well, basically you were rocking the free world... or at least your sister's world

So... even though you'll always be my younger (but taller!) brother, I now know that you can work really hard and you have left your mark on my house. The house says thank you! 

Pre shower anticipation

I am going to a baby shower this afternoon-it is for a sweet family member-so I'd happy to so my support. Please repeat with me "We're so sorry Knittinchick. We know that those are the equivalent of having to watch hours of 17 Kids and Counting without common painkillers such as chocolate or coffee."

Here's what makes it painful:

• Birth Story Swap-a-thon. Yes, it doesn't feel like birth is a miracle when it is a very painful experience... but just like you don't want me to hear the retelling of painful stories such as horrid breakups or disgusting stomach flu stories-single girls all agree that they don't want to hear your stories. A nice little euphemism here and there isn't the worst thing ever.
• Baby Shower Un-Games in my mind games are fun... NO ONE wants to eat that nasty baby food, sniff baby 'diapers' or anything like that. Don't do them.
• Unqualified Advice Givers-people who got married at 22!!! give me advice such as, "When I was finally content, I found the man of my dreams." Sorry when you are 22, you are still a baby, you barely even know how to put one foot in front of the other... you haven't earned the right to give that speech. When I smile at you as you give that speech, I am showing you that God is doing good things in my heart... and that I have actually learned about patience... and you have no clue how annoying (if I'm having a good day) or hurtful (if it is a bad season) you are being.
• Unknown Gramma's Comments, "You look so natural holding a baby. You'll have to have one someday." Sorry but I'm a big believer in A+B=C. I've got the A (me!) part... but there is no part B... so I guess that C isn't happening! 

But the best part... taking a handknit and then getting to hang out with my cousin's kids afterwards being the Cool Single Auntie-bring on the Polly Pockets!

Un-love letter

Dear Mr. Mayor:

Apparently lots of your community is up-in-arms about what our tax dollars are not doing. I know that your information number doesn't want to hear from us (as would be demonstrated by the message of "we know there's a problem, don't leave a message" love. But let me tell you why we don't love where our tax dollars are going right now. B/C this really happened to me:

• On Monday night when I was going to a work commitment dressed up, I got stuck on a significant street. NO one was around. So between rocking my car back and forth, I was kicking snow out from under my tires. Made it JUST in time for my commitment. A tad sweaty but there in time.
• Last night, due to the lack of street parking, my neighbors son parked in front of my house (my street's neighbors are very considerate about leaving street space in front of your house for you). I couldn't get into the space between cars (you need to leave space for the slippage ice and snow room) so had to turn around. This was a problem. I got stuck... two neighbors came out and pushed me out. While I appreciated getting to know them better, they don't want to see me at 11:45 and then help me up as I slip and fall on the ice. 
• Please don't give yourself and other alderpersons a 5% raise on the week when everyone is up in arms about the lack of funding to clear the streets... it just doesn't seem all that authentic!

I know that I just pay taxes, work in non-profit and am a single chick in this city, but please... I feel a tad disconnected from being heard. The city is paying for the lack of street cleaning through accidents, ruined clothes and getting stuck. We don't really love it. Please listen. Pretty please with sugar on top?

That stinkin' economy

So... with my work, I am not responsible for the economy (I know... there are small blessings in this world) but often have to watch it and follow trends as it impacts our work. This has been getting to me as you can only open so many emails stating, "Optimism is down 22% in one month" "Slumping economy affects my sector's future significantly" before it gets to you. So... I've decided to do what I can to save moola wherever. This includes the obvious such as:

• Buying chicken on the bone and cooking it in a broth for chicken mole, chicken pot pie and soup (with extra broth) left over... savings: $20 (side effect: you only smell like cooked onions for a couple hours) 
• Making coffee at home and taking it with you to work... savings: $1.75 (side effect: you get stir crazy @ work b/c you can't escape for 'needing coffee' mid morning)
• Cutting your own bangs that are WAY too long... savings $40 because it stretches your hair cut another month (side effect: you have to watch where the hair gets)

I'm all about the creative solutions so I don't feel like I am stuck. But if I look like I'm nodding my head a lot, it's not because you're that intriguing... it's just because I don't want you to notice my hairdressing skills.

Travelin` Tips

So.... I read in a travelling book about things that you should bring when you are travelling. There were many excellent ideas and I followed many of them such as

• bringing along `certain`tummy medications... definitely worth it if you plan on eating at a large national chain coffee drink or a global fast food restaurant. Don`t worry about it if you are eating in the market where you are only an aisle away from people cutting raw meat to bbq fresh for interested parties... you`ll be fine there.
• sunscreen... such a nice thing to need when you felt like Nanook of the North beforehand
• handwash cold water laundry detergent... really important when you are traveling light

One of the ones that I didn`t follow was a sink stopper or a traveling clothes line for a washroom. This is an excellent idea... as demonstrated by KC traveling

• In a warm climate, you`ll need to wash your clothes often
• Trying to keep water in a sink without a sink stopper is a challenge
• You can bravely try to fill a shopping bag full of water at the shower head while her sister is still sleeping

This leads to my traveling wisdom for you

• Cold water wash means COLD water that you have to stick your hand in
• Bags tend to lose their shape when they are filled with water
• Cold water wakes you up really quickly when the bag loses shape and gushes all over you... we`re talking soprano singing here!
• Canvas shopping bag tends to lose water really quickly and so you have to scrub your clothes quickly
• Hanging the clothes on a clothes hanger on the shower head is a great idea (at home!) but the dripping shower head won`t let your clothes dry
• You can quickly have your hotel neighbors get to know you by having to hang your clothes on your window in the rapidly setting sun

So lesson learned. If you are going to travel. Take a sink stopper!

An authentic Christmas

My cousin confessed to some of her Christmas things. She's inspired me to share with you all my non-secret Holiday Hall of Shame:

• I have never put up a Christmas tree as long as I've lived on my own (post-college). Yes, that would be 11 Christmases but I keep on meaning to buy one on a Boxing Day sale but then I'm never around for a Boxing Day sale... and some of those people scare me.
• My mother loves Boxing Day... the thrill of getting wrapping paper at 75% off is enough to thrill her heart for years to come. Me-I just reuse the lovely gift bags someone gave me last year. And if I don't have enough, I run to Dollarama for inspiration. A toonie later, I'm a happy camper.
• I do not like the song Christmas Shoes. It makes me a little peeved and I always feel like someone is trying to yank my emotional chain at Christmas. I have working in a helping profession for long enough to know that Christmas time is a very difficult season for people who have faced loss in the past year. They'd don't need that song. Say what you want, I will not change my opinion.
• I don't really love turkey. It can get dry... and I don't want to eat turkey leftovers the same day after day-it remains the same. You people who go to someone else's house for Christmas dinner and then cook your own turkey for the leftovers... please get your head checked.
• A white Christmas is great... if you can skate, cross country ski, build snowmen and such like. Feeling every single eyelash and nose hair freeze as you are scraping your car off in the morning evokes no romantic feelings for me.

Every year at Christmas, I feel so blessed. This year my work has facilitated the sign-up and execution of 50 holiday hampers. The stories and locations of these homes make me realize that I truly have nothing to complain about. In one family a mother had requested a mattress for her son sleeping on the floor. The sponsor family sweet talked a mattress company into donating a mattress for the boy. The mother started crying that someone took care of that big dream of hers.

No complaints from me this Christmas-I have my health (way more than last year), I've made big transitions this year, have @ least 10 friends in the 10K club-they'd give me $10,000 and a kidney, have had lots of laughs and I get to make a difference in my work. But it doesn't stop me from being 'delightfully' unique.

I'm BACK!

If anyone checks this out... I'll be shocked. I've been totally out of the loop in the last little bit. A dead computer for a good chunk of a month Really doesn't help.

So a month in review:
*Winter totally sucks!!! Being in a deep freeze at -37C is not fun... and the fact that this city doesn't clear the roads very well allows someone to rear end you. (I'm fine... just have my schedule at the mercy of the auto shops... those people must be loaded in this city!)
*When you have to be super duper creative at work, sometimes there is nothing left for any creativity when you get home. Imagine someone wandering around saying, "What was I going to do? Dinner-what's that?"
*Having a warm vacay to look forward to makes the winter better-worth every single second of hosting two-three students this summer.
*Christmas baking sounds way more romantic than reality proves itself to be. Flour gets everywhere-what would I do if I had a dog? I'd have Jackson Pollock-esque art all over the floors.

I'm back and now have more inspiration! News about my exciting life to follow!

Have a great CHristmas holiday. News to follow about my mom's great Christmas capers with the Neighborly Christmas cards contest.

Pardon me?

One of our great volunteers came into the office today so I went to the Tim Horton's drive thru to grab him a coffee as a thank you. No worries right? Well... all is normal except for the incredibly 'creative' guy who had a foreign car that he drove backwards through the drive thru so he could access the window. 

About ten car lengths there was a driver reversing it backwards. You should have seen the looks... or the even more incredulous looks as this guy was reversing it, and then taking breaks to have kissey-poo moments with his girlfriend. 

All the sudden I feel SO normal. It's amazing how little it takes!

Flittering around!

I just went to a conference and there was a Dress Up as your Favorite Literary Character party. Talk about stress! Thankfully a co-worker came to my rescue with a Tinkerbell costume.

Here's what I learned as Tinkerbell:

• people want you to grant them a wish
• you can blame the fact that you are a 'wide-load' coming through on your wide-span wings
• sitting on chairs is a tad more challenging
• it's definitely a whack-load of fun to pretend to be someone who is very sparkly

If you'll excuse me, I might just put on my wings for a fun time vacuuming my house.

Shopping escapades

So... yesterday was zoo-ey at work. I'm heading out this afternoon for a few days of training (scored it free for my work and a workmate by volunteering... here's hoping they were joking about the yodeling!)

No problems... I work a solid ten hours running from meeting to meeting and then try to finish up some paperwork at the end of the day. As I race out of work, I hit the worst part of traffic and it takes me ten minutes to drive the three blocks that my workplace is located on... so I can take a convenient shortcut.

After battling traffic for forty minutes, I arrive at my destination  the shopping mall and then go to the Disney store to purchase a Tinkerbell t-shirt for my costume for the literary character party at this convention (if I wasn't volunteering, I'd go as a Nancy Drew... quietly watching everyone in plain clothes). No problems, right? WRONG! All their clothes were stopped at the border. So I race through the mall to find black tights that will fit me (why do stores have XS, S and XL?) There's a lot of living in between those sizes. 

I pick up some chicken for my student and her friend who are often at my house. I race home all proud of myself for only being ten minutes late and still being a good host mom.

Ahh! Relief... I'm home... Internal dialogue: I'm happy to serve. You don't get lots of kudos for it but it is the right thing to do. Moms who manage to balance working at demanding jobs, raise lovely children and feed them are the heroes. I won't be in their category but this is my training.

Guess who didn't show up for dinner last night? Guess who's friend didn't show up for dinner last night? You can't win... and all my self-congratulatory thoughts were all in vain! Pride goes before the fall, I guess:-)

In which I become my mother

Sorry about the lack of chatter from my world these past few weeks... I have become my mother and it has been taking up a good chunk of my time ... as demonstrated by the following:

• I finally am fed up with my 'dress size' or the size of my assets... although the mutual funds aren't in any place to retire these days, the other assets are becoming quite an outstanding issue. So, I signed up for Curves. I always thought of it as an old lady place until I tried that stupid machine for your arms and the lady kept on saying, "Faster, Faster!" I know that you are trying to encourage me... but seriously, I just want to die right now.
• My student is constantly on the computer msning, facebooking and talking on her cell phone all at the same time in the evenings. This impedes my ability to blog, surf the web or post pictures on my favorite ravelry discussion group.
• I have heard things like, "I don't want to make lunch unless you're going to eat it or I will make this lunch and if you don't want it, feel free to make your own."
• I have been buying yogurts in a tube (on sale of course!) to trick my teenage student into eating more healthy options.
• I got all excited about a healthy eating option for purchasing foodstuffs so that I can 'hide' more healthy options in the food.

And last but definitely not least:

• I met a kid err adult that I knew from when I was a college student from my parents' hometown last night who faced some incredibly deep waters as a teenager. I hadn't seen him in probably close to 13 years and he is married, has a lovely little baby girl and is doing well at a job that is making a significant community difference.
• I was so blessed by seeing him that I went home with such a grateful heart. That's the sort of thing that would carry my good-hearted mom for days and I intend to let it carry me through a pretty intense week that I have ahead of me!

Off I go to save the world... well, honestly, just to get to work and try to have enough energy to face fixing that computer tonight!

Life races by

So... yesterday I was Auntie Knittinchick being a hero to 5 and 8 year old dear friends. We went to car racing with cars, little mini cars, big trucks and everything. I had gotten in for free and their parents (dear friends of mine) kept on thanking me for taking their kids with me. I kept on thinking, "Are you kidding? They are what will make it fun!"

The boys were adorable... and the only things that they quasi disagreed about was who got to sit on Auntie's knee or cuddle while we cheered on the cars, observed tire blowouts, watched tow trucks pull out different crashes. Overall a great afternoon for families and it tended to be a tad red neck (but incredibly kind and funny) crowd.

I had moments where I was thinking about the environment and all the exhaust etc. But it all didn't matter. I was Auntie Knittinchick and a hero to the cutest guys ever who gave me lots of hugs and thanked me over and over for our Date yesterday afternoon.

On the ride home, we started planning our next Auntie Date. Even though we talked about lots of things, we are either going to go swimming or bowling next time. I don't think I've enjoyed a date in a long time!

Excuse me sir

Conversation recently heard inside my head,

"I am so happy to be leaving work at a human hour like 3:00. I'll stop at Costco and get a new anti-virus program for my computer... b/c I am such a fun girl!"

"Why did I think that stopping at Costco and then standing in line was a great way to spend a gorgeous afternoon? Now I'm stuck in 4:00 rush hour."

"Oh, this is the challenging part... to get over into the next lane of traffic quickly when it is so packed."

"There's a nice man with a car full of family. He'll let me in... why isn't he letting me in? I'm signalling, waving, trying to get his attention and basically making the people behind me want to write down my licence plate. Sir! Sir! Sir!"

"Oh my word, he is texting. Texting! TEXTING! in the middle of rush hour. Sweetheart (aka Dumbhead's wife), you might want to think about driving next time.... I think that when they make all these media pleas for people to pull over when they are talking on their cell phones, they just assumed that no one would be texting in the middle of rush hour while people are driving fast in stop & go traffic. I guess the insurance bureau could make some serious money with me and my new ad campaign for Just Say No to Texting in Traffic."

"Seriously!"